Whatcom Falls Park facts for kids
Whatcom Falls Park is a large park covering about 241 acres (or 0.98 square kilometers) in Bellingham, Washington, United States. It's a beautiful place where Whatcom Creek flows, carrying water from Lake Whatcom all the way to Bellingham Bay. The park is famous for its four different waterfalls and many miles of well-kept walking trails.
Besides the amazing waterfalls and trails, Whatcom Falls Park offers lots of fun things to do:
- A special Fishing pond just for kids aged 14 and under.
- Two Tennis courts, located near the upper parking lot.
- Athletic fields, also found near the upper parking lot, perfect for games.
- Picnic tables and shelters that you can rent for parties or gatherings.
- Two playgrounds, one at each of the park's main parking lots.
The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife also runs a trout hatchery inside the park. This is where young trout are raised before being released into streams and lakes.
Discovering Whirlpool Falls
Whirlpool Falls is a very popular spot in the park, especially for swimming. The waterfall itself is only about ten feet tall. However, the cliffs next to the falls are much taller, reaching about 30 feet high. During the summer, you can often see people jumping safely from these cliffs into the deep pool below. You can find these falls along the "Whirlpool Loop Trail."
For a while, swimming at these falls was not allowed after a big pipeline accident. Signs and fences were put up to keep people out. But over time, these warnings were removed, and now people can swim there again.
Sometimes, people mistakenly call Whirlpool Falls by other names, like Middle Whatcom Falls or Lower Whatcom Falls. But Middle Falls is actually further downstream and you can't reach it by trail. The area around Middle Falls was badly damaged by the Olympic pipeline explosion and is still closed to the public. The real Lower Falls are even further downstream, close to Bellingham Bay.
What Happened at the Pipeline?
On June 10, 1999, a pipeline belonging to the Olympic Pipe Line Company broke in the park, near Whatcom Creek. This caused a huge amount of gasoline, about 237,000 US gallons (which is 897 cubic meters), to leak into the creek. Sadly, this gasoline accidentally caught fire, and the explosion burned a large part of the forest in the park. It was a very sad event, and some people were seriously hurt, and lives were lost.
